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Wednesday, 29 October 2014

Kashmir Cop Wins UN’s International Female Peacekeeper Award

KASHMIR COP WINS UN’S
INTERNATIONAL FEMALE PEACEKEEPER AWARD

UNITED
NATIONS – An Indian police inspector from Jammu and Kashmir has been named
recipient of a prestigious international female peacekeeper award by the UN’s
police division for her “exceptional achievements” in her duty with the UN
mission in Afghanistan, including her efforts towards helping victims of sexual
and gender-based violence.

Inspector
Shakti Devi of the Jammu and Kashmir Police, currently deployed in the UN
Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), has been awarded the International
Female Police Peacekeeper Award 2014.

Devi
has been honoured for her “exceptional achievements” in leading the
establishment of Women Police Councils in several parts of Afghanistan, the UN
Police Division said in a communication to the Indian mission here.

It
said Devi has contributed to the improvement of the status of female police and
has effectively helped the police of Afghanistan move towards achieving their
goals of fully adopting democratic principles of policing.

“In
addition, her consistent engagement in improving the service for victims of
sexual and gender-based violence has led to successful investigation and
prosecution,” the UN agency said.

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The
award was delivered during the International Association of Women Police (IAWP)
conference held earlier this month in Winnipeg, Canada.

The
honour is a competitive award given to an outstanding female police peacekeeper
serving in a UN peace operation.

The
objectives of the award are to promote an understanding of police in peace
operations throughout the world, highlight the efforts of female police in
global peace operations, increase understanding of the roles of women officers
in various countries and encourage participation in UN peace operations by all
countries of the world.

It
is also aimed at promoting membership in the UN International Female Police
Peacekeepers Network and increasing international understanding and awareness
of women in international police peacekeeping and in the network.

The
award is organised in collaboration with the IAWP Awards programme and
delivered during its annual conference.

India
is the largest contributor to UN peacekeeping operations, having contributed
more than 170,000 troops in 43 out of 69 peacekeeping missions mandated by the
United Nations Security Council so far.

The
UN owes India $110 million, the second highest outstanding payment to any
country, for costs relating to peacekeeping operations and troops.